Amajita World Cup hopes floundering
SA U20 suffer a second loss as early exit looms
THE SA Under-20 team are in danger of crashing out of the Fifa World Cup at the first hurdle following their 2-0 Group D defeat to Italy yesterday.
After losing their opening game to Japan, Amajita would have hoped for a better result but a dubious penalty that was converted by Ricardo Orsolini and an Andrea Favilli strike were enough to put the South Africans’ dream of qualifying for the next round in jeopardy.
It was the same old story for Amajita as defensive errors again cost them a win that would put them in a better position to advance to the next round at the international showpiece in South Korea.
Were it not for SuperSport United goalkeeper Mondli Mpoto, the losing margin would have been greater.
Coach Thabo Senong bemoaned the lack of concentration from his troops but maintained that they were still in the tournament, albeit having to rely on other results on Saturday.
Uruguay qualified from Group D after beating Japan 2-0 yesterday.
“We conceded a penalty, which put us under pressure. In the second half we were not focusing on the game and they scored the second goal from a throw-in. We were very slow. Although we prepared for this game, we did not play our normal game of pressing,” said Senong.
“We are still in the tournament. In our next game against Uruguay we will give our all. We are hopefully that luck will be on our side because we will have to rely on other games to qualify.”
SA can qualify for the next stage as one of the best third-placed teams. They next play Uruguay on Saturday (1pm).